ArenaGear University · Buyer's Guide
Dashr Alternative: ArenaGear RM-510 vs Dashr Silver, the 5-Year Cost Breakdown
Both are wireless, both are made in the USA, and both time to a thousandth of a second. The difference shows up when you add up five years of ownership.
If you're shopping for a timing system, you've probably typed "Dashr alternative" or "Dashr vs ArenaGear" into a search bar. On the spec sheet, the two can look like a coin flip. Stop comparing sticker prices and start comparing five-year totals, and the comparison stops being close.
The five-year totals, line by line
| Line item | ArenaGear RM-510 | Dashr Silver |
|---|---|---|
| 2-gate base system | $699 | $940 |
| Vertical jump | $99 one-time | $500 lifetime or $200/year |
| Roster fees (500 athletes) | $0 | $500 ($1 per unique athlete) |
| 5-year total per system | $798 | $1,940 |
That's $1,142 saved on a single system, 59% less. The ArenaGear number is $699 of hardware plus a $99 one-time vertical jump, and nothing else. No subscription, no seat count, no annual renewal to keep a feature you already paid for.
What that means for schools and camps
- A school buying 6 systems saves $6,852.
- A camp testing 2,400 new athletes a year would pay $2,400 a year in per-athlete roster fees, or $12,000 over five years. With ArenaGear, that's $0 at any volume.
The categories beyond price
Eye safety
ArenaGear gates use an eye-safe infrared beam. Dashr Silver uses a Class 3R laser, which is not eye-safe. Picture the 5-10-5 pro agility shuttle: the athlete starts in a low stance with their face directly in front of the beam, rep after rep, hundreds of reps a season. Safety isn't a feature you price-shop. Read more about laser vs infrared.
Setup
ArenaGear gates are self-aligning. Set the tripods down and go. Dashr requires manually aiming the laser units, one more step on every setup while a line of athletes waits.
Battery
ArenaGear runs about 80 hours on AA batteries (67% longer than Dashr's 48-hour USB battery), and you can buy spares at any gas station. Battery status shows live in the app.
Mounting and trigger point
Dashr sits on ground-level mini tripods and triggers off the foot or shin, which varies with stride. ArenaGear mounts at waist height and triggers near the athlete's center of mass for repeatable times.
Software
ArenaGear includes TEAMS, our free cloud data management service, with unlimited athletes, unlimited viewer devices, live leaderboards for parents, Global View and Global Sync across stations, Apple Watch support, an open API webhook, free AI athlete profiling, and automatic hands-free video with a security watermark of each athlete's name and time.
Warranty, returns and build
3-year warranty vs 1 year. No restocking fee on a clean return vs 15%. Military-grade hardware rated from −67°F to +257°F.
Where Dashr is ahead
A fair comparison says this out loud: Dashr currently leads on reactive agility LED gates. ArenaGear's are coming soon. If light-cued reaction drills are the core of your program today, buy for that. Timing accuracy (0.001 s) is a tie, and both systems are made in the USA (Dashr in Omaha, ArenaGear in McKinney, Texas).
The scorecard
Across the 28 categories on our published side-by-side comparison, ArenaGear wins 24. If you're timing sprints, shuttles, jumps and drill work for a school, a team or a facility, those are the categories you'll live with every day.
ArenaGear is the most cost-effective professional timing system on the market, used by thousands of schools and professional teams.
RM-510 System + Vertical Jump: $798
Free shipping · Eye-safe infrared · No subscriptions · No per-athlete fees · Made in McKinney, Texas
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